Device for assembling brood-frames.



c. o. BRUNO. l D DEVICE FOR ASSEMBLING BROOD FRAMES.

APPLICATION FILED A`PR.23. |917- Patented 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Z7 v 'J3 C. O. BRUNO.

DEVICE FOR ASSEMBLING BROGD FRAMES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 23, I9I7. y

Patented JulySO, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 y avail-? UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEiogE.

CHARLES o. BRUNO, ornooxronn, IIiLr'roIsfv DEVICE FOR ASSMBLING BROOD-IFR'.AMES. A

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES O. BRUNO, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rockford, in thecounty of Winnebago and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices forl secured -in a roove in the top bar through the agency-o a long narrow wedge and is further secured to the frame by thin wiring traversed :back and forthv over'. and em-` bedded inthe foundation and being secured to the side bars. These brood frames, the apiarist purchases in knock-down form,` the parts for yone frame consisting of a pair of side bars, 1a topand a bottom bar, all of whichA are? of wood, abees wax comb founda-Y tion, andalong; narrow wood wedgefor securing -theoomb foundationto the top bar. The top baris .double grooved on its underside so that one. groove receivesv the combfoundation and theother the wedge,

the latter vbeing employed to press the narrowwood portion 4intermediate the grooves into the bees lwil-X and thereby secure the same to the topbarL Y l y f f It is nowcommon practice for vthe apiarist `to' assembley these parts by hand, nailing the side bars toithe top bar, then nailing the bottom bar Atothe side bars, 'thence insertingthe combfoundatlon and wiring the frame andfinserting the' wedge/to secure the comb.foundationy in positioniin theframe, and finally, in placing; a staple in each top endof,the ,brood` frame soas to* serve as end stops cooperable with the 'main' brood? chamber framel for properly spacing the. ybrood frame therein.` 1 Because of the various operations Athus .required for assembling a-fbroodframe and becauseof the considerable number of these vframesfnecessary forequippin a number Aof hives, con- Vsiderabletime an Alabor mustv be expended Specification of Letters Patent.

Brood frames,

The

'Patented July 3o, 191s.

Application led Apri123, 1917. Y Serial No. 164,040.

in assembling operations, andinmanyv instances, becauseof the hand methods employed, the 'frames are not assembled with the uniformityand accuracy desired.r

The primary object,therefore, of my in-V vention is to lprovide a new and useful appliance for assembling brood frames of the character described so that they may be eX- peditiously and accurately assembled at a much lower cost than has heretofore been` found possible.

I have also lalmedl to' provide an appliance .of this character which shall be of ,y c very simple and inexpensive construction so that it will serve the purpose for which it` is designed in a practical manner and may be produced as an article of manufacture-at a comparatively low cost.- l

In furtherance of these general objects I havej provided an appliance of novel construction. embodying various advantageous features, all of which maybe full understood and appreciated by those s illed in the art by reference to the following description Vwhen considered in connection with the accompanyingy drawings, whichg e l Figure 1 is a plan view of an-appliance embodying my improvementsfshowing the parts.A in the position assumed for the first operation of nailing the side barsA to the top bar and showing inmdotted lines the man- Y ner of wiring the frame; Y K y Fig. 2 is a fragmentaryperspective view. illustrating the nail-driving device; and

Figs. 3 and 4 are fragmentary perspective views showing Vcorners of the brood frame, the illustration invFigql showing the side barvremoved. Y

Ajbrood frame 'such as isradaptedtobe assembled by means of `my novel appliance,

consists of side bars V8 andv9, top and bottom bars Y11 andv l12respectively, a bees wax combv foundation or comb starter 13 and` a Wedge 14: and wiring 15 'for securinggthe combfoundation to the ,side .and top. bars'. As shown in Fig. .3,.theside bars are recessed at their ends to receive the reduced ends 16- ofzthetopcand bottom bars. lIn assembling these partsjeach side bar f8 .issecured yto Y an endof the topbarlbymeans of twonails .f

17, shown in Fi L! 3, and aj staple 18gis vappliedto eachsi ebarin-.themanner shown :the fblod. rood cham' to lserve V,as a stop lfor'holding) frame in roper position in the ber of a eehive.4 Instead -A of placingthe 1ro f staple 18 centrally between the edges of the side bar and, therefore, directly oppositel the comb foundation, it is desired to'insert the staple on that side of the comb foundation opposite to the wedge, so that the staplerwill enter a solid body of the top bar, as indicated in Fig. 4.

Referring now to my novelv appliance, it will be noted that a main frame or base of rectangular shape designated generally by reference character19 is provided and carries the several parts and devices employed in the course of assembling a brood frame. A table 2l, as it were, is mounted on the base 19 for supporting the comb foundation when the brood frame is being wired, the edges of the table serving as guides or gages for determining the position of the top bars and side bars during the assembling operation. Thus the edge 22 of the table,`together with the face 23 of a block 24, constitute'sides of a channel guide in which the top bar may be placed and held in position on the frame. The edges 25 andv 26 of the table serve as gages or stops with which the side bars coperate when the brood frame is laid flat on the base as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 during operations other than nailing the brood frame. A stop 27 in alinement with the channel formed by the faces 22 and 23 and thebase, limits movement of the top longitudinally in one directionv when said bar is seated in the channel and therebyT determines the operative assembling position of the said top bar.

Since the first operation in assembling the brood frame is to nail the side bars to the top bar, the latter (which contains on its underside a pair of parallel grooves 28 and 29 for the reception of a wedge and a comb foundation, respectively) is placedgrooved side up in said channel on the frame and in contact with stop 27, as shown in Fig. l, and the side bar 9 is positioned, as shown, in cooperative engagement with the top barready to be nailed thereto. .A nailing device is l now provided for applying the nails 17 to *Y against the pressureof an expansion spring 34 confined 'in the housing 32 below the plunger 31 and in engagement withalug 35y depending from said plunger;V This spring serves to automatically return the: nail driver and its operating'leverl to inoperative position afterthe nails have beeny driven. Means is disposed intermediate the nail driver and the adjacent end ofthe top bar for properly positioning a pair of nails intermediate the plunger and side bar so that the plunger may engage the nails and drive them as desired. This means, best shown in Fig. 2, consists of a plateA 36 yieldingly and depressingly supported at its ends on springs 37, which are coiled about screws or posts 38 passing through the plate 36, the latter being grooved plied. It will be noted that the top of the blade is disposed in the path of the plunger and that the nail seats 39 are deeper at their ends adjacent to the plunger than at their forward ends; also that the plunger is provided with nail head seats 43 which may be of any suitable form. The operator places two nails in the seats 39 with the heads at the deepest portions thereof and the points projecting beyondA theV plate 36 into close proximity to the sidebar 9 and then advances the plunger 31 with one handv through the agency of the lever 33 so as to press the nails forwardly and with the other properly enters the. points of the nails into the side bari After the-plunger is advanced to drive the nails the forward under edge ofV the plunger which is slightly beveled will engage the top ofthe plate 36 and depress the same to thereby. withdraw it from the nails and` not interfere with theheads thereof. Thus the nail positioning means is depressed by the plunger when drivingv the nails and passes entirely over said -means=. The nails 17 arerthereby applied and ,will pierce the top baron both sides` of .its grooved portion, as indicated Figs. 3 and 4 When the operator releasesthe handle 33 the spring 34 will retract theplunger and the nail lpositioning means'will be automatically raised to operative position. The operator will then remove "the .top bar and re-position it in the channel with the side bar 9 adjacent to the stop 27 sothatrthe` side bar 8 may be secured to the r top barv by means ofthe nailing device in the manner just described. A staple 18 may be, however, ap-l plied to'- the side bar 91 immediately after nailing theV same, and in the same manner following tl'ieinail'ing of thev side bar 8; lnV the positionlwliich the topba-r assumes when theside bar 9 is'being applied thewi'dest portion of the top bar on its grooved side is located adjacent to thel face 42 of the vsta-ple gage,"andtheref ore, a staple will' be placed on edge,r resting on the extension l'ofl thel topv barv and against the 'facel 42,A and will be` Y pressed into the side bar at one side of thecomb foundation groove 29 by operation of the plunger. When the side bar 8 is to be stapled, the staple will be positioned against the face 41 and applied in the manner indicated in Figs. 3 and 4.

While the parts are in this position, that is, with the side bars projecting upwardly the bottom bar 12 may be inserted in the cutaways in the now uppermost ends of the v side bars andnailed thereto by hand as this operation may be very easily and simply performed Without moving the parts from the base.

The Wiring of the brood frame by Wire 15 from the spool 4 and the securing of the comb foundation 13 to the frame through the means of the wedge 14, which is adapted to be forced into position by operation of the cam levers 53 carried by the pivoted frame sections 47 are not claimed in this application as they constitute 'independent subject matter.

By means of an appliance embodying the novel features just described, it will be eviden-t that brood frames may be accurately and expediently assembled and that the several operations performed are all done in a very practical and eflicient manner. It

should be understood that while I have shown and described one practical embodiment of my improvements, various changes and modifications might be made in the construction Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claim.

I claim:

In a device of the character described for assembling brood frames, a frame for supporting the brood-frame parts, a nail driving-device on said frame including a nail driving element, a nail supporting and positioning means interposed between the nail driving element and the Work comprising a horizontally disposed member having spaced nail-receiving grooves in its upper surface whereby a plurality of nails may be supported in a horizontal position intermediate and in alinement with the nail-driving element and the Work, and means yieldingly supporting the nail carrying member at each end thereof so that said member may be yieldingly depressed when the nail driver is operated to drive the nails.

CHARLES o. BRUNO.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Wallington, D. U. i 

